‘This Is Us’ episode 4 preview: Troubles in ‘The Pool’

After a one-week delay thanks to the Vice-Presidential Debate, “This Is Us” returned to NBC on Tuesday night with a new episode that gave you a little more insight into the journey of both the past and present. This is not a linear show by any means; instead, it’s all about breadcrumbs. You get a few, and they lead you from point A to point B.

Next week’s new episode is entitled “The Pool,” and the early indications suggest that this setting will lead to Jack and Rebecca learning a little bit more about their family and their future. At the same time, present-day Kevin is going to be making the next move forward in his acting career.

Synopsis – “Rebecca and Jack take Kevin, Kate, and Randall to the community pool on a hot day and quickly realize each child is going through their own struggles. Kevin auditions for his first Broadway play in New York and meets a determined actress who is less than impressed by him. Toby runs into his ex-wife while at a restaurant with Kate, which sends Kate into a spiral of self-doubt. William is mistakenly reported as a loiterer in Randall’s predominately white neighborhood, which exposes deep-rooted issues of race.”

Promo – This in particular gives you a good sense of many of the difficult race-related discussion points that are going to be coming up, in particular Rebecca and Jake giving Randall a sense of his racial identity. Meanwhile, in the present he will try to make the right introduction, and relationship insecurity could rear its head. There weren’t any major twists tonight, but that’s okay when there is a good story.